In America; Double-Deckers' Dark Side

By BOB HERBERT

Published: May 29, 2000

Last Monday one of the colorful double-decker buses owned by New York Apple Tours struck and killed a 71-year-old actor who was crossing the street near his home on West 45th Street in Manhattan.

Police investigators said the driver, who was making a turn from Ninth Avenue onto 45th Street, did not have a license to operate the bus. They said the victim, Randolph Walker, had the right of way when he was hit. They said the bus, which was not carrying tourists, had no right to even be on 45th Street.

Welcome to the reckless, lawless world of New York Apple Tours. There are quite a few New Yorkers, including some public officials, who felt it was just a matter of time before the company's repeatedly demonstrated contempt for the law would result in a fatality.

''Without question, this company needs to be out of business, off the street,'' said Christine Quinn, a City Council member from Manhattan. ''It's a complete renegade business. There is no law out there that they have any respect for. They ignore traffic regulations. They've ignored the environmental protection laws. They've been found guilty of switching the license plates on their buses. They've had numerous violations for drivers driving without a license, or without the proper license. You name it, they've broken it.''

New York Apple's pollution-spewing buses have been cited for many hundreds of violations over the past few years and have been involved in at least 140 accidents, according to city officials. Several people have been injured by the buses, which frequently are operated in a reckless manner. The city's Department of Consumer Affairs has been trying to revoke the company's license to operate since October.

Complaints against the company have come in huge waves since it began operating its popular tours of the city's neighborhoods in 1992. In August 1995 the company paid a $100,000 fine and agreed to oust a top executive after it was accused of illegally switching permits at state inspections. Last year New York Apple officials admitted to federal investigators that the company had lied about the ages of its vehicles to avoid meeting federal safety and environmental standards. The company agreed to pay an $800,000 fine, but the fine has not yet been paid.

State Senator Thomas Duane, who has been battling Apple Tours for years, said: ''On this federal thing, the Justice Department had brought a suit against them because they lied about how old their buses were because antique buses are not subjected to the same emissions standards as newer buses. Then, when we got a ruling against them, the way they tried to cure that was by installing even older engines in their newer buses. Hello. I think what the Department of Environmental Protection wanted was for them to upgrade to less polluting engines.

''I mean everything they do, they just scam and lie -- they're unbelievable.''

In separate interviews Councilwoman Quinn and Senator Duane expressed outrage over an illegal maintenance operation that Apple Tours set up a few years ago next to an elementary school in Chelsea.

''They were storing noxious liquids and running blow torches outside the school windows,'' Mr. Duane said. ''They didn't have the necessary permits. It was completely illegal.''

''They eventually had to close that down,'' Ms. Quinn said. ''But it's always something with this company. There's the poor, poor quality of the buses and the amount of pollution that goes out into the neighborhoods. There's the reckless driving, the constant violation of the three-minute idling law, the use of streets that they are prohibited from using, the double and triple parking -- it just kind of goes on and on.''

After Mr. Walker was killed the city stepped up its effort to shut down Apple Tours. Even as this was happening, the company ran into more trouble. On Tuesday one of its operators was charged with driving with a suspended license. And on Thursday, just 45 minutes before the start of a hearing that could lead to the loss of the company's license, one of its double-decker buses crashed into the rear of a postal truck.

The time to shut down Apple Tours is now -- before someone else is killed.